The need to readily identify items stored in a computing environment such as a personal computer (PC) is dramatically increasing as more individuals utilize computers in their daily routines and as the type of stored information varies between pictures, music, documents, etc. Documents and media are typically stored on computers in a hierarchical fashion and are organized with files of information or media stored within folders. File system browsers enable users to navigate through the file system and locate and open files and folders. For example, Microsoft Corporation's WINDOWS® EXPLORER™ is an operating system utility which enables users to browse the file system. However, many users find it difficult to correctly identify a file based on the information currently available in conventional file system browsers.
The ability to view metadata about the various files can greatly assist a user in finding a particular file stored on their computer. In the Microsoft Corporation's WINDOWS® 9X operating systems, a user can view object metadata by accessing the property sheet for a particular object. A property sheet presents the user with a list of the attributes or settings of an object in the form of a tabbed, index-card-like selection of property pages, each of which features standard dialog-style controls for customizing parameters. However, using the property sheet to locate items can be slow and cumbersome, and some users find it difficult to locate the relevant metadata in a property sheet. Similarly, the use of infotips to locate items can be slow and cumbersome because a user must hover the mouse cursor over each file in order to view the limited metadata displayed in an infotip.
Conventional file system browsers do not allow users to enter and edit metadata relating to files and folders, which would significantly enhance a user's ability to later locate that file. To date, the ability of users to enter and edit metadata has been limited to special purpose software programs. Examples of such programs include media players for electronic music files and application programs for electronic picture files. However, the use of such a program is limited to the particular type of file supported by the program, as opposed to a file system browser which supports multiple file types.
The Microsoft Corporation's WINDOWS® XP operating system includes an image browser for use in the My Pictures folder. The My Pictures folder is endowed with special features which enable users to view pictures as photos, not just as document icons. My Picture's image browsing features include the ability to view thumbnail-size and large versions of your photos, rotate photos that are flopped sideways, and create a slide show. You can also view a photo's details, such as its dimensions, the date and time it was taken, and the name of the camera that took it. The preview control area in the My Picture's folder contains an enlarged preview image of a user-selected image, iterator buttons to assist a user in iterating through a series of pictures and controls for rotating pictures in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. These image browsing features are discussed in further detail below in connection with FIG. 2.
While the image browsing features discussed above have advanced the state of the art by alleviating the need to invoke a separate application program to view and manipulate pictures, the functionality provided by the preview control is limited to picture files and closed to third party software developers. There is little or no metadata displayed, and users cannot enter and edit metadata associated with the picture files. The preview image is a static viewer, as opposed to an interactive one. The ability to view only the first page of a multi-page document does not necessarily assist the user in recognizing file contents.
Accordingly, there is a need for a file system or shell browser which offers users improved file content recognition features so that users can readily locate their files. A need also exists for an improved graphical user interface for a shell browser which allows for the selection of a previewer for a particular file type from a plurality of available previewers. There is also a need for an extensible shell browser which would allow software developers to provide additional information and functionality to users on a file type basis.